Egyptian government reveals plans to build new capital city east of Cairo

The Egyptian government has formally announced plans to build a new capital city east of Cairo.

The plans involve moving the country's parliament, ministries and foreign embassies and the construction of a new administrative and business centre able to house up to 5 million people and feature a theme park "four times bigger than Disneyland".

Housing minister Mustafa Kamel Madbuli told a global investor conference the new city would relieve pressure on overcrowded Cairo, with its population of 18 million expected to double in coming decades.

"The idea to build the new city originated from our awareness that Cairo's current population will double in the next 40 years," Mr Madbuli said in a presentation showcasing the details.

It will also have "an international airport, a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland in California, 90 square kilometres of solar farms, and an electric train" to link with Cairo, he added.

Parliament, presidential palaces, government ministries and foreign embassies would move to the new metropolis, the minister said, adding these projects would be executed over the next five to seven years at a cost of $US45 billion ($59 billion).

The overall cost of the new city was not revealed, nor were details on how it would be funded.

The plans were presented at a three-day investor conference which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hopes will help kick-start Egypt's troubled economy.

Authorities say it will spark a renaissance in the economy but many Egyptians recall other flagship projects which stalled in the past.

Mr Sisi, who has positioned himself as a bulwark against jihadists, told the conference investing in the Arab world's most populous country would help stabilise the entire region.

Egypt's stability "is a cornerstone in regional stability," he told the conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.